New Belgian Beer Bar in Old Oakland

[cfarivar]

I was with two friends today in downtown Oakland, and we happened to park in front of a new Belgian beer bar that’s about to open up on 8th St. at Broadway. Dude, Belgian beers! Right here in Oakland!

From their site (www.thetrappist.com) : The Trappist is owned and operated by Aaron Porter and Chuck Stilphen. We strive to bring you the finest beer available, served properly at the correct temperature and in the correct glass. Our bottle list features over 120 Belgian, Dutch, French and American micro brews. We have 15 rotating beer taps, which feature local California, and specialty micro brews from the US as well as several Belgians. We also feature a weekly Cask ale selection from the UK or US. You wont find any big corporate brews here, just the finest artisan brewers.

Holy moly, this is going to be amazing.

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The Trappist
460 8th Street, Oakland, CA

[joet]

I go there today to check it out along with the other nascent Belgian beer places in the area. Reviews, ratings will be at ratebeer.com. Some other RateBeerians will be going through there tomorrow.We're all very excited in the craft beer community!

[WCchopper]

Anything particularly good to eat nearby besides Luka's?

[mutterer]

I like Restaurant B in Old Oakland. I had a delicious meal there last Saturday night.

http://www.boakland.com/

[The Dive]

I liked Levende East as well.

[Robert Lauriston]

Per the Web site the grand opening is is this Friday, 12/7, at 4pm.

[Robert Lauriston]

Opening beer list is online:

http://www.thetrappist.com/ontap.htm

[Agent 510]

Are they planning to serve just beer, or food (at least snacks) as well? If the latter, maybe they could be a nice alternative to Luka's.

[recycleit]

I know the owner's wife. This place is/will be a real labor of love. Give them a try when they open, Chuck is really serious about Belgian beers and will put 110% into it.

[cfarivar]

I've got word from the owner that it won't be opening until sometime probably in November.

[lexdevil]

The list looks great, but I've got to say that drinking that near the police station makes me...nervous. Definitely taking BART.

[Robert Lauriston]

Nothing new about Belgian beer in Oakland.

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Luka's Taproom
2221 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612

[susancinsf]

I don't think the Luka's selection is that big, is it?

120 bottles! Looking forward to trying it....

[Robert Lauriston]

Luka's has 16 rotating taps, about half of which are Belgian. No hand pumps.

Toronado in SF has around 45 taps and three hand pumps, about a quarter Belgian.

Bottles I can drink at home.

[Spatlese]

Under normal circumstances, I would agree with the "Bottles I can drink at home" sentiment, but perusing their bottle menu, I noticed the Westvleteren abbey brews for sale - haven't had the pleasure of ever trying any myself, but my inner beer-geek reminds me that these are amongst the rarest, most highly-prized brews around, so much so that if you see any Stateside, it's most likely been handcarried back from Belgium (the photos on their website attest to that, it seems). $30 for a bottle of beer is beyond the pale for most, but I must confess that I'm tempted - not like I'm planning a trek to Belgium any time soon....

[Robert Lauriston]

Luka's has had Westvleteren. Toronado has one on their current list:

http://www.toronado.com/bottles.htm

[WCchopper]

And Luka's has those good Belgian style frites to go with the brews.